Cubs, an all encompassing trip

Wood Dazzles; Cubs Finally Solve a Lefty

Many people labeled the Sean Marshall trade in the off-season as a loss for Theo Epstein and company solely based on the fact that Sean Marshall was named the closer for the Reds and that Travis Wood didn’t make the Cubs out of Spring Training. Fast forward to tonight, and things aren’t looking like a loss at all for the Cubs as Travis Wood continued to take advantage of his opportunity in the rotation by shutting down the Mets en route to a 6-1 victory. Wood shut out the Mets over seven strong innings, only allowing five hits while walking one and striking out six. With the win Wood improved to 2-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.54. Offensively the Cubs had maybe their best approach and game against a lefty all year. Johan Santana came into the game pitching very well, but the Cubs made the veteran lefty work, they earned four walks in addition to pounding out seven hits and six runs. Alfonso Soriano had another solid night at the plate as he shows no signs of slowing down, he went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Joe Mather had the big hit as he was 1-for-3 with his 4th home run of the season to put the Cubs up 2-0 in the fourth inning. That’s all they needed behind Travis Wood, a solo shot from Ike Davis off of James Russell in the ninth spoiled the shut out bid. It’s Anthony Rizzo day tomorrow as the Cubs top prospect makes his season debut, we will have full coverage. Full box score and highlights after the jump.

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